David Grey

Cooperation on International Rivers A Continuum for Securing and Sharing Benefits

Abstract It is generally accepted that conflicting demands over international rivers will intensify. There is an active debate on whether this will lead to “water wars” or to unprecedented cooperation. Framing the debate in this manner, however, tends to cast the concept of cooperation as all-or-nothing, implying that “cooperation” is an extreme, in direct opposition to “war.” This conceptual construct obscures the many practical levels of cooperation that states can undertake to their mutual advantage. It is important to recognize that it is entirely rational that states will always have a “national agenda” for a river that they share with other states, and that they will cooperate if it serves that national agenda. In practice, there can be a continuum of levels of cooperation, from simple information sharing, to joint ownership and management of infrastructure investments. Furthermore, it may not necessarily be the case that “more” cooperation reaps “more” benefits in all river basins. There are many different types of benefits that can be secured through the cooperative management of international waters, with each individual basin offering different potential cooperative benefits with different associated costs. For each international basin, the optimal mode of cooperation will depend on a mix of factors including hydrologic characteristics, the economics of cooperative investments, numbers and the relationships of riparians, and the costs of parties coming together.

Water security in one blue planet: twenty-first century policy challenges for science

Water-related risks threaten society at the local, national and global scales in our inter-connected and rapidly changing world. Most of the worlds poor are deeply water insecure and face intolerable water-related risks associated with complex hydrology. Most of the worlds wealthy face lower water-related risks and less complex hydrology. This inverse relationship between hydrological complexity and wealth contributes to a divided world. This must be addressed if global water security is to be achieved. Using a risk-based framework provides the potential to link the current policy-oriented discourse on water security to a new and rigorous science-based approach to the description, measurement, analysis and management of water security. To provide the basis for this science-based approach, we propose an encompassing definition rooted in risk science: water security is a tolerable level of water-related risk to society. Water security policy questions need to be framed so that science can marshal interdisciplinary data and evidence to identify solutions. We join a growing group of scientists in asserting a bold vision for science leadership, calling for a new and comprehensive understanding of the planets water system and societys water needs.

Coping with the curse of freshwater variability

Institutions, infrastructure, and information for adaptation Coping with variable and unpredictable freshwater resources represents a profound challenge to climate adaptation. Rainfall, snowmelt, soil moisture, and runoff can vary from zero to large quantities, over a range of time scales and in ways not well predicted by climate models. Extreme floods and droughts are the most obvious manifestations, but hydrologic variability can also have chronic impacts. Water security involves managing these risks so that they do not place an intolerable burden on society and the economy (1). We discuss interlinked roles of institutions, infrastructure, and information in managing those risks.

Some problems in the quaternary evolution of the landforms of northern Botswana

Summary Northern Botswana is notable for the remarkable juxta-position of the wetland landscapes of the Okavango Delta, and the semi-arid landforms of the closely adjacent Makgadikgadi basin. There is much evidence to suggest that a great pluvial lake occupied the latter at various times in the Pleistocene and Holocene, and may on one or more occasions have formed a very large and continuous body of water with the Okavango - Mababe - Ngami depression. Changing climate and neotectonism have both clearly played a part in the evolution of a very complex assemblage of landforms. The study of these landforms may throw much light on the nature of geomorphic processes under differing climates; on the pattern and chronology of climatic change; on the incidence of neotectonism within the area; and on the history of the movement and settlement of Stone Age man, whose artefacts are found in abundance throughout the region. A very tentative chronology of events is put forward.

Africa's International Rivers : An Economic Perspective

Cooperative management, and development of Africas international rivers holds real promise for greater sustainability, and productivity of the continents increasingly scarce water resources, and fragile environment. Moreover, the potential benefits of cooperative water resources management, can serve as catalysts for broader regional cooperation, economic integration, and development - and even conflict prevention. But riparians will pursue joint action only when they expect to receive greater benefits through cooperation than through unilateral action. Economic analysis can be used to make the case for cooperation on international rivers, using tools that will help identify, and measure the potential incremental benefits of cooperation, determine the distribution of benefits among riparians, and assess the feasibility, and fairness of alternative management, and investment scenarios. Where such schemes yield benefit distributions, not perceived as equitable among riparians, economic tools could also be used to calculate, design, and implement arrangements for redistribution. In all of these ways, economics can play an important role in enabling the management of international rivers, helping to motivate, design, and implement cooperative water resources management.

Executive Summary—Community Water Supply: The Handpump Option

An estimated 1,800 million people need improved water supplies in the fifteen years to the end of the century, if developing countries are to reach the target of full coverage. The first half of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981–1990) has seen increases in the percentages of the rural population with access to safe water supplies, but only in Asia has the pace been quick enough to envisage a target of essentiahy full coverage by the end of the century (ten years later than the original Decade goals). In Africa, present progress rates would leave half of the rural population still without safe water in the year 2000, while in Latin America, it may be ten years into the next century before full coverage is achieved unless progress improves dramatically. Accelerated progress is hampered by financial and technical resource constraints faced by many developing countries, and the problem is aggravated by the growing number of completed projects which are broken down and abandon...

The Development of the Water Resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territories: some key issues

The paper discusses key issues in the development of the water resources of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. First, there is the uniqueness of a situation where the major proportion of the transboundary flows between the OPT and Israel is groundwater, which infiltrates in the West Bank and flows to Israel. There are few decisions of international courts on the allocation of transboundary groundwaters. Second, perspectives and timeframes for problem resolution are an issue in the OPT, due in part to the uncertainties inherent in the peace process. The water resources crisis in Gaza, where the debate often focuses on large-scale solutions while appearing to ignore the need for a range of short, medium and long-term perspectives, is described and possible phased solutions are discussed. Third, there is a general lack of information and statistics and much of the limited information available is conflicting. Increasing the level of water resources information and skills at the disposal of the Palestinian community to that of their counterparts in the Region would raise the integrity and acceptability of any overall plan for water resources allocation and management, benefitting all the concerned countries in the Region.